AFRICA: China Civil Engineering Construction Corp is in active negotiations for a 30-year concession to operate the Tanzania-Zambia Railway network and revitalise the infrastructure and rolling stock.
CCECC built the Chinese-funded line in the 1970s, and recently undertook a comprehensive business and technical inspection of the network.
A memorandum of understanding for the planned concession was signed during the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation in Beijing on September 4, witnessed by the heads of state of China, Tanzania and Zambia.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority is aiming to finalise a concession agreement by the end of the year. It anticipates that rehabilitation of infrastructure and rolling stock would take two years, and in the longer term traffic would increase from 0·5 million to approximately 2 million metric tonnes per year.
TAZARA said ’we are enthusiastic about the railway’s transformation into a key driver of regional economic development, aligning with the aspirations of the people of both Tanzania and Zambia’.
